8. Baked cod in the bag with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar

The original recipe in the book calls for John Dory, but John Dory cannot easily be found here. My fishmonger is probably sick of me asking about this fish every time I visit him. Luckily, Jamie provides alternative fish that can be used for this recipe, like cod, haddock or even skate wing.

I chose cod because despite being overfished, I really like its tender, flaky flesh.

Cooking in a bag or commonly known as en papillote is such a fantastic cooking techniques because everything stays so moist. All the ingredients, the sliced ripe tomatoes, garlic, fresh red chilli, finely sliced onion, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, olive oil and the fish are basically put into a folded parcel and then baked. Make sure the parcel is tightly sealed and there are no gaps anywhere (don't wanna lose the wonderful cooking juices).


You can either use parchment paper or aluminium foil to create the parcel. I prefer foil only because it's stronger.

After twenty minutes, remove the parcel from the oven and allow it to rest before putting it on a plate. And then it was time for me to open the delicious present.

As I was eating, I keep thinking about the question many friends have been asking, "what's next when all of this is over, when you completed all the recipes?". I don't know to be honest. I know I want to keep blogging. Some friends and also my sisters suggest to do another book. But which book? hmmm... Well, I don't have to decide right now. I still have 35 days and 7 more recipes to try.

Anyway, the baked cod was utterly delicious. The juices from the tomatoes, the onion, olive oil and the vinegar create this wonderful pool of broth that surrounds the fish. It's like summer in a bag, on a plate and then in my stomach.

Have a great one.